Nintendo64.comThis week I will travel back in time to 1997 and ask you, “What is the single best first-person shooter on a console?” If you didn’t answer “GoldenEye” for the Nintendo 64, all of us who answered correctly will beat you on the top of the head with wooden clubs and give you a dance hat to cover the severe mass you will have on your head. In 1997 Rareware produced one of the most innovative and original pieces of art to hit the shelves of stores worldwide. “GoldenEye” was a success and made Rareware (nicknamed Rare) a familiar name in every gamer’s household.
“GoldenEye” is a first-person that is based off of the James Bond movie, “GoldenEye.” The game features character models straight from the movie and does a really good job at making them look like the actors in the movie. Even though the game is a cartridge instead of a CD, it has okay graphics. Some critics today would say they are horrible, but it’s 1997! What do you expect? The blast from the barrels of the guns still looks cool and so does the smoke from the rocket launchers, grenade launchers and the mines. The weapons are amazing in this game. There are knives, pistols, lasers, semi-automatic rifles, shotguns and the previously mentioned weapons. The sound is also quite amazing. The soundtrack for this game lifts it to a whole other level of awesomeness. There is even elevator music for the elevators. This game’s presentation was incredible.
After not playing “GoldenEye” for five years, I still find it a gem to play. There are few games that are from this era in gaming that you can get your hands on and truly have fun. This is one of them. The controls are immaculate. It may take some time to get used to the C-buttons on the controller, but after that it is smooth sailing. There are also cheats that you can earn in the game to make levels that you have already played more fun. The fun is endless in the single-player mode and will have you playing on every difficulty available.
“GoldenEye” was revolutionary in the fact that it introduced increased damage to certain body parts and the four player split-screen to the FPS. The multi-player on the split-screen works perfectly. In my case, “screen peeking” was acceptable and added to the fun, but most people find it a despicable act. There are multiple types of weapon sets to also match the surprising number of maps that exist. Each level and weapon set has its own types of strategies that are involved in order to win. Certain sets are better for certain maps, but all of them are fun together (“Slappers Only!” may get boring, though). There are five types of scenarios for multi-player, but the default type will be the most popular. There are eventually 33 characters that can be used, so it will never get boring.
Overall, “GoldenEye” is one of the best FPS that has ever existed. It has qualities that are still being used and mimicked by other games out today, and it shows its strength through that. The presentation and the game-play is still as excellent as it was in 1997 when it plagued Nintendo 64’s across the globe, and now it only costs a whopping $8.00 to buy (depending on the store). If you have it, go play it; if you don’t, buy it. The bottom line: “GoldenEye” for the Nintendo 64 a 10/10.